10^th International Tissue Repair and Regeneration Congress

A soft spot for stem cells helps cornea healing New research developed by scientists which reveals a potential revolutionary way to treat eye injuries and prevent blindness by softening the tissue hosting the stem cells. It has been discovered that a simple application of collagenase, a tissue softening enzyme prevents the loss of corneal stem cells following an injury and could prevent patients from losing their sight. This shows that keeping corneal stem cells in a soft environment is fundamental for their reproduction, self-renewal and ability to heal the damaged tissue. It offers hope to almost 500,000 people a year who lose their sight due to chemical burns including acid attacks.  Scientists were able to determine that the corneal stem cell niche, the area of tissue in the cornea where stem cells live is a much softer environment than the rest of the tissue and stiffening the niche causes stem cells to mature and lose their self-renewing and wound healing properties